Last name meaning.?

Question:I was sitting in class the other day and my sub was telling us that each and every one of our last names had something to do with the job we had. We were reading the Canterbury Tales and like for example The Miller was someone who..._________ and now someone with a last name of Miller was a ...________. If anybody knows if this is true plz respond b/c i want to know my last name origin( Madrigal)? thanks.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I was sitting in class the other day and my sub was telling us that each and every one of our last names had something to do with the job we had. We were reading the Canterbury Tales and like for example The Miller was someone who..._________ and now someone with a last name of Miller was a ...________. If anybody knows if this is true plz respond b/c i want to know my last name origin( Madrigal)? thanks.

In Europe, especially Britain, surnames for ordinary people did not exist until the Norman conquest. The Romans had extra names but these had gone out of use. Rich people also had extra names describing the areas they controlled (Guy of Gisborne etc.)
The Normans wanted to be able to identify the Brits for tax reasons and gave them "surnoms". They used descriptions of the person, their job and where they lived. Hence you get surnames like Dark, Little, Small, Armstrong, Brown: Miller, Carpenter, Chandler, Clark, Fisher; Field, Meadows etc.
In France, sons were given the appendage "Fitz" (son) even before this so this was transferred to the English. It is likely the practice of using "son" was already common in England, but the Normans would have formalised it. People would have been described as "Thom's son", Richardson etc. if their father was still living.This was then made into a formal surname.

The Madrigal was also a dance which accompanied the Madrigal music. This type of music was very popular in the Tudor period in England. Madrigals dated from 13th century Italy and were originally a form of poem. The music was added to the poem so that it expressed the words. Happy words would have happy music and so on. It is quite possible your ancestor was a poet who composed these Madrigals. Italian surnames were also quite late in being applied so this may have been a name chosen by or given to an ancestor.

That's ludicrous. It's true of SOME names, but by no means all. For instance, if someone is named Cunningham or McMahon, what occupation could either name possiby reference? Further, what of non-Anglo names, such as Bishiyama (Japanese, "diamond mountain") or Laverensdotter (Scandanavian, "daughter of Lawrence") or Menendez (Latino, and who knows) or Mandela (African, and again, who knows)?

Your sub has an ethnocentric view of naming conventions.

A madrigal is a song or a poem of a form created in Italy that dates to the 13th century. (You could have googled that one yourself.)

http://www.last-names.net/Articles/Anato...
Here is one (of many) articles on how surnames came into being.
Sub-teacher needs to do his/her homework.

A madrigal was a type of group singing in the medieval period.

English surnames are often related to the occupations of the original bearers. People didn't used to have last names, so they would go by the first name and occupation...like John Builder (or Carpenter) or Bill Blacksmith (or Smith). In some other countries the last name comes from the place the person is from. Like Ponce De Leon, meaning Ponce from Leon.
So, your teacher was right, regarding the Canterbury Tales, because they were written in England.

As to what your name means. A madrigal is an Italian type of music. Your family, back in the 1600's may have been influential musicians of that style.

Below is a link to your family crest as well. Hope it's helpful!

The miller was someone who worked in a factory (bldg) that ground things up (flour, etc.), ie "milled". A Miller might now, in America, be a secretary or the Prz of the USA.
Your name, Madrigal, almost certainly derives from Spain, and refers to Madrigal singing in the 16-17th centuries, which was church choral music, relating to Mother Mary, the mother of Christ (Madre).

Surnames indicated a person was the son of someone, their occupation, their habitation or some characteristic about them.

For instance there was a man named John that had 4 sons.

Henry, if he could write signed his name Henry son of John. When people took surnames he became Henry Johnson or Henry Jones.

George who was a blacksmith became George Smith.

Sam who lived on or near a hill became Sam Hill.

Robert who was stout became Robert Stout.

Four legitimate sons of the same man took different surnames but each shared their surnames with others with whom they were not related.

The Gaelic Mac, Mc and Fitz means son of
and the prefix O means descendant of.

Kil is Irish for church and Kirk is Scottish for church. Habitational names for people living close to a church often used Kil or Kirk.